Seems that some people need more money... as they eat all the crowfunding they got for The64... really looks very bad. What they claim (falsely) others do, in fact they do... (but it's a fact that they are not really clever neither very creative on their bs...)

(Text from the article here)...

--ASK FOR REFUND before to be COMPLETELY SCAMMED !-------------------

You can now call the Scammers...

— Jan Saggiori

This is a gross invasion of privacy, as neither Jamie Ball nor George Cropper have anything to do with TheC64. Both gentlemen live in Spain, neither of them work for Retro Games Ltd or have any shares in the company. Several people have reported Jan Saggiori's post to facebook and suggested George contact the police.

Monday 2nd October, 2017

George Cropper releases a new video called THE VEGA+ IN OCTOBER ? OF COURSE NOT !

Jan Saggiori's post containing the addresses for George Cropper and Jamie Ball from Sunday October 1st has been removed from facebook after multiple complaints by facebook members. Facebook stepped in to remove the post, and issued a warning asking to contact them if it happens again and providing a case number.

Shortly after the post was taken down, Jan has re-posted a slightly modified version. Members of the community have been quick to report this post, but so far it remains online.

Jan Saggiori (admin of the "democracy" facebook group) has setup a fake website duplicating many elements from TheC64 campaign, and publishing the address and phone numbers for George Cropper, Jamie Ball and Paul Andrews. We will not publicise the URL of Jan's fake website, but instead redirect any interested parties to the official Bum Fun Gaming website along with the official TheC64 website.

Wednesday 4th October, 2017

RCL miss their 7th deadline! On Wednesday the 9th of August, RCL released update 61 stating "We aim to begin shipping the Vega+ to backers within the next 8 weeks, and to follow this immediately with our first shipments to retail. And to the RCL trolls, we’re not going anywhere. Peace out". The 8 weeks ran out today.

Today's failure to release the Vega+ surprises very few people, as RCL have not sent out the address confirmation and roll of honour emails, PEGI certification has not been applied for, the games list isn't complete and even the box design isn't finalised.

In the "democracy" facebook group, Jan Saggiori has purged more than 50 members. The current number of members has dropped from 319 to 257 and Jan is now demanding backer numbers when anyone attempts to join the group. Jan Saggiori is not a backer himself yet has bragged about having the complete backers list in what would be a major data breach:

Jan Saggiori has also created a new fake twitter account to expose the details of George Cropper, Jamie Ball and Paul Andrews. The account includes a fake picture with George's head on it.

George Cropper releases a new video called VEGA+ TEAM RESORT TO DOXXING!

The twitter troll account Bob Smith is attempting to "dox" various people in the retro gaming community that have asked for the truth from RCL. Andy Kavanagh, Isofarro and Codetapper have all been targeted in tweets similar to this:

You could be right. We should stay with just posting addresses. Can't find codetappers, just his employers.

Thursday 5th October, 2017

We have noticed that Andrews UK has submitted their annual accounts, and named RCL and its directors in them as refusing to pay the debts confirmed in writing by David Levy. According to the notes in the submitted accounts, Levy refused to pay the debts whilst at the same time paying himself, and although Andrews UK will attempt to recover them in due course, it has not affected the otherwise healthy position of the company.

Preston Thomas has tweeted that his wife Tamara has stepped down as admin from the "democracy" group after the "doxxing" by the remaining admin Jan Saggiori:

#zxvegaJust to let you all know my wife has stepped down as admin from the demo group and she does not agree with whats going on.

Lee Fogarty has claimed that George Cropper (who runs the site Bum Fun Gaming) does not actually live in Spain, and resides in Scotland. George denied this in his video response from yesterday, and Preston has also confirmed Lee is wrong by confirming a batch of games he received from George last year were indeed sent from Spain.

Can I just point out to everyone that the games I had from George came from Spain and not from Scotland as some believe.#zxvega

Sunday 8th October, 2017

Lee Fogarty posts on Spectrum 4Ever that there will be highscore competitions during the day at the Spectrum 35 event on Saturday October 28th, and the prizes will be limited edition Vega+ units. This appears to be a real slap in the face to the poor backers that are still waiting for their Vega+ units for the best part of 18 months. Lee's post:

There will be high score challenges throughout the day, and the prizes are ltd edition Vega+'s

— Lee Fogarty

Please note that some of the comments in the post have already been deleted from the thread.

Jonathan Cauldwell posts several messages blaming George Cropper and 4 or 5 other people for "destroying the community".

Wednesday 11th October, 2017

RCL spokesman/contractor Lee Fogarty has now deleted his facebook account. Despite rumours that Lee is suicidal, two people have spoken with him to confirm this is not the case:

Lloyd: Is Lee Fogarty ok? He seems to have deleted his account?Guy: Steve Brown called him earlier and he's fine.Richard Chandler: Lee's ok. People causing him shit and he's having to deal with it. Easier to do it offline.

With Lee deleting his facebook account, he has also removed himself as the admin from the Spectrum 35 facebook group. The Spectrum 35 event is due to take place in a few weeks time, with Lee Fogarty set to hand out up to 17 limited edition Vega+ prizes on offer. (This calculation is based on 4 categories, with teams of up to 4 people, and at least one extra prize for a high score competition on the day).

Saturday 14th October, 2017

The last remaining admin of the "democracy" group Jan Saggiori is manning the fort, telling everyone that the Vega+ is mere days away. He appears to be using the word "we" more frequently in his most recent posts. (Jan Saggiori is not a backer, and has never been one).

A pre-sale item is advertised for sale before the seller actually has the item. Often, these items are sold before they are available to the general public.

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Guarantees shipment within 20 days from the date of purchase.Clearly identifies the item as a pre-sale.Provides proof, if needed, that they can successfully deliver the product (supplier information, purchase invoices, shipping information, or delivery confirmation).

If this merchant is violating our acceptable use policy, please send an email to aupviolations@paypal.com with as... https://t.co/CWXPWSSTQu

Monday 16th October, 2017

RCL miss their 8th deadline! On September 1, RCL released update 63 and extended the deadline in their "Happy Friday" update when they said, "Well, it's the first day of September and we are on track for the Vega+ reaching your game-hungry mittens by mid October." With no update since then and based on 31 days in October, today is mid October and their 8th successive delivery failure.

This is a personal statement regarding Sir Clive Sinclairs company, Retro Computers Limited (RCL) and my association with the Vega+ and the continued delays.

I was not involved in this project at the beginning, and read about the project as an independent fan of the Spectrum. I was impressed that it was so much more than the original Vega, and a project worth backing.

On 21 May 16, I contacted RCL offering my assistance, as it was clear they were having some difficulty with their website following the departure of Paul Andrews and Chris Smith. I had never had any contact with these people prior to this time. I was put onto Suzanne Martin who informed me that the website had been taken down and a backup posted on DVD for recovery, but the company trying to restore the website had problems with it being sabotaged. That evening was spent recovering the archive.org backup to get the site back online.

When I received the files for full recovery via dropbox, it was clear the website had been sabotaged. This was quickly rectified and the website restored. The process from receiving these files to full restoration took 4hrs.

There was also a 2nd website, and when I received the files for that via dropbox, there was no database included.

On the same day the RCL website went back online, I became a target for a coordinated, sustained abuse campaign. This has been ongoing now for 18 months, apparently because of the help that I've given to RCL to help them to get closer to releasing the Vega+, which is all I cared about. This has now escalated and has recently involved my family and friends. My partner has also had her address posted online with calls for people to contact her to receive refunds for a product and company she has nothing to do with. She has also had her business social media accounts trolled, had items posted to her address and her car damaged.

Despite the abuse, I continued to offer support and advice to RCL.

On 20 Oct 16, at the SMS factory in Beeston, RCL had their Vega+ launch party. It was announced at the party that full manufacturing would commence “within weeks” and the Vega+ would be in shops by Christmas.

Prior to the launch party I was aware that due to contractual issues, Private Planet had undertaken to re-write the firmware from scratch. This concerned me, as I know it takes a lot of experience with the machine you are emulating in order to emulate it, and it's not a quick process to produce an emulator, and my opinion was that an existing emulator author should be contacted to request licensing.

I was pleasantly surprised at the launch party to see working units, and it showed progress. However, during a conversation with the developer, it transpired that he was using the open source emulator FUSE. I expressed concern that FUSE was being used and nobody from that development team had been approached as I felt the authors of FUSE should have been aware, and I was concerned that with the amount of online abuse, that the team should be given the chance to prepare for the same level. I was told that there was no obligation to inform the FUSE team due to the license – this is true, but not in my opinion the way to endear the community you are trying to sell a product to. It would also have been wise from a development point of view to have contact with the authors to aid with ironing out any issues.

It was also very clear that the software was unfinished – a lot of features were missing or didn't work. However, these were minor issues easily fixed.

Over the following months, there were several conversations regarding the use of FUSE and keeping the team in the dark. I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the FUSE developers being kept in the dark about it being used to power the Vega+ and so contacted the team myself to inform them, and that they needed to prepare for the abuse when it was finally announced. Rightly or wrongly, I made that decision alone and with no authorisation from RCL. This gave the FUSE team plenty of time to prepare their statement when it was announced.

Over time, there were many disagreements with the way the project was being handled, and in particular updating backers with issues as well as progress – my opinion is and always was that they funded this project and deserve to be part of the journey. Of course, the final decision is always with the MD as to whether advice is followed or not.

On 8 April 17, there was an event in Nottingham. I had pre-arranged with the organisers that they would receive a working Vega+ as a thank-you for their dedication to the Sinclair brand for 35yrs, and in addition they were members of the launch party that were promised units, so it was an ideal opportunity to hand over. Due to a mix-up with times, the unit was handed over later than intended.

It was also arranged that some pre-selected testers from the community would also receive units. RCL was to be represented by Suzanne Martin and she would be available to demonstrate the units and answer any questions or concerns. Unfortunately, before the event started, Suzanne was called away and I was left to face backers and answer questions based on what information had been given to me by Suzanne. Again, it was with assurances that the units were about to be manufactured.

During testing, it became very clear that this wasn't a product that met my expectations, and any reviews of the product would be devastating. There were hardware issues ranging from annoying to serious. One example is that every tester lost their SD cards inside the units and had to take them apart to get them out. Once the cards are inserted properly, they are very difficult to remove as the SD card slot isn't spring loaded as you would expect with new hardware.

The most serious concern however was the state of the software. Nothing had been done in the months from October to April. It was also very clear at this point that CTO Janko had no involvement in the production.

There began a flurry of emails with bugs, and no coordination of the testing process, so I took over to organise testing.

The organisation went well, however the replies from Private Planet were either condescending or completely wrong. For example, I was told one of the advertised features – ULA+ was impossible to install due to framebuffer issues. This is rubbish as there are other versions of FUSE with ULA+. My suspicion was that the menu was at fault and there are examples online of other menu solutions that could have been used. There is also a thriving online community that could have easily advised. Again, I pointed out there are many people in the Sinclair community that could have helped with these issues. Some issues came out of lack of knowledge of the machine (beeper and AY levels being wrong and making music sound incorrect can only be detected by seasoned Sinclair gamers).

We received a firmware update that we had assumed would be the start of bug fixes, however nothing was fixed, and new (non-working) features added. It was very clear that this software hadn't undergone basic checks prior to being sent out. It is also my suspicion that this was a previously written update many months old.

The issues ranged from minor quirks to severe “show stoppers”. Many of the advertised features didn't work – for example, TV out, Keyboard input, ULA+, etc.

Shortly after receiving the last bug report, we were all asked not to contact Private Planet any more and that they were working on the issues. That was the last contact we had with them, and no further updates were received.

At this point, it was clear there were serious issues with the company. The CTO (Janko Mrsic-Flogel) had gone missing leaving everything to a very non-technical Suzanne Martin. The amount of online abuse was building and getting a lot worse.

I had also spent the last 12 months asking repeatedly for backers to be updated properly. I was told that due to the amount of abusive emails received with each update that it had to be planned for when the MD had time to filter the abuse next day. Given the abuse I was getting, I have no problem believing thousands of abusive emails were being sent weekly, and they increased after an update – mostly from the same few people. I had however several times offered to apply filters to the emails so the abuse could be ignored. It's a very simple task for anyone to do this themselves.

During the testing and following the replies from Private Planet, I suggested a unit be sent to one of my contacts to complete the work from Private Planet, and also compile it on-chip. The option was to use my Linux expert to complete the work from Private Planet, with support from myself for the specifics (he is also a Sinclair user so support would have been minimal), or start his work again as it was clear the installation process from Private Planet was wrong, or the 3rd option to use him to install Linux on chip, and send the source-code to a seasoned emulator author to complete.It was agreed that as a backup, this would be done. Neither party were contacted.

On 3 July 17, I contacted an emulator author that has experience with his own emulator and SOC installation. It was very obvious to me that he knows what he's doing, and he informed me that it would take around 12hrs after receiving the hardware to have a test version of the firmware produced.

Whilst this was going on, other members of the community were sourcing additional games for the Vega+ as some copyright holders had withdrawn their titles. I expressed many times concerns that the games needed videos for PEGI rating, would need testing, keymaps created, etc and time was running out for another deadline.

On request of RCL, I got a group together to sort these issues out, and discussions commenced around managing games testing and the other items needed, which would be managed by myself. To date, this testing hasn't started.

It was also pointed out to RCL that in order to test correctly, the new firmware needed to be installed on the units. To this date, not one single person has seen this firmware.

I met with RCL on 2 Oct 17. I was handed a 3D printed model of the new design, however there was nothing to convince me that this is a product about to be released in weeks.

During several conversations with Suzanne, the question of competition prizes was raised. It was agreed that 20 white units would be made with the World of Spectrum logo on, and boxes printed to match. This was a thank-you to the community that has supported this project, and kept Clives legacy alive. There were also due to be 5 golden units for prizes and a prize draw at the Spectrum35 function.

In the meantime, both RCL and the ex-directors have engaged in a very public legal battle. In my opinion, these legal battles are diverting the attention of the RCL board from finishing the project and vastly delaying the backers getting their Vega+ units that they have paid for.

During statements, conversations with journalists, and several private conversations, I have always stated that if I thought for a second that the units weren't going to appear, I would be the first to shout about it. My entire motivation has been to help bring the Vega+ to the backers and retail. I have been paid a modest fee via my company for services, at a rate far less that I would normally charge, however the majority of my time has been for free for what could be a fantastic product.

It is of course entirely up to the Managing Director to follow or not follow any advice given, however due to my lack of confidence and my family being targetted, it is now time to end my association with the project.

To those that did target me and my family and friends, all I can say is shame on you for attacking anyone and everyone trying to help backers to get what they paid for.

This project deserves to succeed. It is a nice unit, and when it plays, it plays well.

I will not be replying to comments and would like to wish the project and RCL the best of luck in finally producing the ZX Spectrum Vega+

Tuesday 17th October, 2017

George Cropper issues a full teardown of Lee Fogarty's admission of guilt (from yesterday) in his latest video called THE VEGA+ - THE MOUTHPIECE ABANDONS SHIP! This is a 48 minute extravaganza so grab a cuppa and tune in!

RCL post update 65 on the Indiegogo campaign, indicating their intention to send out the roll of honour emails in the coming week. This is the 4th update that RCL have mentioned the impending roll of honour email. Another interesting thing to note is that RCL say the chosen name will be "on our new website", implying the current Lee Fogarty hosted site may be changing again.

Roll up Roll up – your name to be immortalised Vega+ style

Roll up Roll up – Last chance for your name to be immortalised Vega + style. We are delighted to confirm that the Roll of Honour emails are going out in the coming week. We’ll be in touch directly (not through Indiegogo), so make sure your name (or the person you want immortalised) is correct as we cannot make corrections after the cut-off date, which will be included in your individual email. As we already mentioned, there are a couple of swear-y names which we can’t add for obvious reason, so keep it clean folks, as the chosen name will also be included on our new website. We’re here. We’re not going anywhere. Your Vega+ IS real and IS coming to you. Stay tuned.

The delay of the Vega+ has been well documented over the last year or so and the man that has been a vocal supporter of Retro Computers Limited - Lee Fogarty - has come under a lot flak due to these delays. As backers have been crying for updates, Lee has tirelessly tried to inform backers of the progress and urging them to keep the faith that the units will be ready to ship and in the hands of the backers on dates stated by the company. Targeted incessantly by the various vicious trolls that have emerged on the back of the Vega+ production, Lee has done well to keep it all together and to try and help to keep the project moving.

Given the information in Lee's statement, it's a great shame that the project and individuals have been targeted during the development of the Vega+. There is never a need for personal attacks and some of the abuse that he's been levelled at individuals has been appalling. It's a shame that Lee is no longer involved but we can all hope that the Vega+ will be in production soon and will get delivered to backers. If RCL are going to release a statement soon - we will have to wait and see. All I can say here is fingers crossed that the unit will materialise soon as many know what a great console the Vega+ could be.

*disclaimer - all views contained in this article are my own (florinthedwarf) and may not reflect the views of the rest of Indietretronews.com

— Paul Davies aka FlorinTheDwarf

At the time of writing, there are 17 comments on the page, all negative towards Lee's statement (which has been completely picked apart by George Cropper) and all along the lines of "Lee is a liar", "What about all the abuse Lee sent himself", "Why is there no apology from Lee" etc.

Wednesday 18th October, 2017

Nick Cooper's court case against RCL is scheduled for this afternoon.

RCL appear to have sent out the roll of honour email. The cut-off date for the name is Friday 27th of October, so the "mid October delivery" has been well and truly missed. Several people on facebook groups have posted comments wondering how (and why) they received the email at a different address than the one they registered with on Indiegogo.

RCL post update 66, another puff-piece claiming that they are receiving really supportive emails. Perhaps RCL should have a good look at the 200-odd refund requests in their inbox and action those first?

Big Thanks

Firstly, big thanks from all of us for the really supportive emails filling up our inbox.

In just a few hours we can see that nearly 40% of you have replied and confirmed your details in- WOW.

If you are having any problems navigating the login process email us back using your registered email and we will help you work through the system.

Also, if you have pledged for more than one Vega+ you need to reply to the email we have sent you, and we will add your additional names manually.

Finally, if you haven't received an email, please make sure that you still have access to your registered email.

— Retro Computers Ltd (update 66)

It appears RCL have used multiple different accounts to send out the emails, as there is a 2,000 limit on the free version of MailChimp. Many people receive the email from a gmail address, others from suzannemartin.com.

Friday 20th October, 2017

Sunday 22nd October, 2017

RCL post update 67, claiming that 80% of people have signed up for the roll of honour:

Nudge Nudge...

Well. we’re over the moon to see that over 80% of you have now signed up for our Vega+ Roll of Honour. However a few people have made contact saying that they haven't yet received the email. If that is you, please check the email account you registered on Indiegogo is correct, and check your spam folder. If for some reason you no longer have access to your registered email, use the contact form on Indiegogo and let us know there – we’ll help you through security to make sure you don't miss out.Happy Sunday ;-)

Friday 27th October, 2017

Codetapper posts on the public discussion facebook group that Suzanne Martin has contacted his employer after making up a series of false allegations against him. Suzanne Martin failed to provide evidence for any of her claims, and Codetapper posts that because of her nonsense, he will be refraining from public comment.

Saturday 28th October, 2017

Spectrum 35 event takes place at the Centre for Computing History. Back in May 2017, Lee Fogarty had announced a new game competition with limited edition Vega+ units as prizes to the winners of each of the 4 categories. He also stated that winners would be announced at the event, and the winners would be able to collect their prizes.

Overall winners will be announced at S35 on 28th October 2017. Entrants that are there on the day will receive their prize on the day.

We have had confirmation of the prizes and can confirm that all winning team members in each category will win a *very* limited edition WoS branded Vega+ each.

— Lee Fogarty

Lee was allocated a half hour slot at 7:30pm to perform the prize-giving duty. However Lee arrived late to the event, hid as much as possible and was advised to leave the event after his involvement in the Vega+ fiasco. No confirmation of winners was made at the event, and no prizes were handed out.

In the Spectrum for Everyone facebook group, Thomas Eberle posts "Lee handing over the first prize of competition (after) the Spectrum35 to Urs König" showing a photo of Lee in a pub:

The post causes an uproar in the group, as backers were supposed to be first to get their Vega+ units before anybody else. The unit in the photo does not match the "limited edition World of Spectrum branded Vega+" prize stated in the original competition, nor the "white unit with World of Spectrum logo in a box" as Lee said on 16 October 2017:

During several conversations with Suzanne, the question of competition prizes was raised. It was agreed that 20 white units would be made with the World of Spectrum logo on, and boxes printed to match. This was a thank-you to the community that has supported this project, and kept Clives legacy alive. There were also due to be 5 golden units for prizes and a prize draw at the Spectrum35 function.

— Lee Fogarty

A member of the group asked if Thomas Eberle had permission to post the photo, and asking if the two people in the photo knew about it. According to Thomas, both Lee and Urs had given permission:

On the World of Spectrum forums, members ask about the winners of the game competition. (12 hours later, there is still no reply by the admins):

Sunday 29th October, 2017

It has been revealed that the photo of Lee Fogarty handing over a Vega+ to a "competition winner" yesterday was staged. Thomas Eberle (who posted the photo) did not get permission from Urs (sitting on the right hand side in the photo), and the photo was taken in the "Baron of Beef" pub. The Vega+ was not Lee Fogarty's, and Urs only had the Vega+ briefly:

It was just a funny beer driven pub "fake news" joke at halloween saturday night after a great day, nothing to worry about. I had this Vega+ only for 5 minutes or so than gave it back. It wasn't even Lee's one. Feel free to re-post my statement. Peace.

Monday 30th October, 2017

RCL release update 68, with yet another delay for the Roll of Honour confirmation. The update also mentions updating delivery details for the first time:

Final Call

We've extended the date to to ensure anyone eligible can register their chosen name on the Roll of Honour. We've received some emails this morning from backers who had only just received our original email. We will extend the registration date to midnight on Friday 3rd November 2017.

This means it's your last opportunity to make sure your delivery details are correct, and if you have moved countries (we know some of you have ) contact us directly and we can manually over-ride the system.

Friday 3rd November, 2017

We have assessed the information you have sent us about Teacher Stern LLP and Michelmores LLP.

We understand you are one of a number of individuals who have provided funds to a company called Retro Computers Limited ('RCL') to help with the manufacture of a product called Sinclair ZX Vega+.

RCL have allegedly used funds provided by yourself and other financial backers to instruct Teacher Stern LLP and Michelmores LLP. It is alleged that both Teacher Stern LLP and Michelmores LLP have used funds provided by RCL in full knowledge that were being paid with money that was in trust for production of ZX Vega+.

What happens next

We will look more closely at the matter and the information we hold about Teacher Stern LLP and Michelmores LLP. We may contact you for further information and may make some enquiries with the firms or individuals concerned.

We may then decide:

to ask the firms to improve their systems and procedures

we need a formal investigation which could lead to sanctions or restrictions on the way a firm or individual operates

we do not need to take further action.

We have enclosed a leaflet to explain what you can expect if we decide to investigate. We hope you find this helpful.

— Solicitors Regulation Authority

The extended registration deadline for the Roll of Honour confirmation passes without any comment or acknowledgement from RCL.

Tuesday 7th November, 2017

Nick Cooper has been declared bankrupt, meaning RCL have spent a fortune on lawyers with no chance of getting any money from him.

Facebook group members have noticed the Real Crooks blog was updated with 2 new articles. We have not been able to verify any of the information contained in the articles Ronnie Biggs or The Sunday Club.

Wednesday 8th November, 2017

It seems the honour roll has not been closed after all, as RCL release update 69 containing more delays and a strange request regarding new colours:

Hello, Hello...

Hello, Hello... So we are still chasing a few stragglers for the Roll of Honour, we will make contact with you directly to give you one last chance but if you could get a shimmy on we would appreciate it.

And thanks to everyone who has waited patiently waited for a response we have replied to most of you by now.

Also, big thanks for the constant messages of support

A couple of weeks ago we released a teaser showing one of our tools and asked you which component we were making - well it was THOSE pesky buttons that have caused us so much trouble. We were moulding them in clear plastic to make sure there were no air bubbles and the tools are now perfect.

AND THE BUTTONS ARE NOW PERFECT!

We have also listened to feedback from testers and retailers, and have made additional changes to the top central panel; this cuts out the light-bleed which, has been mentioned in a few places. We have also modified the tooling so that the edges butt together to form a smooth ergonomic edge to enhance playability and the overall feel of the unit.

We hope you love the Spectrum colours - we have now confirmed these. If you could have an additional colour unit which colour would you choose and why? Let us know - we are all ears.

More footage and images to be released over the next couple of days.

Delivery details will be forthcoming very soon - stay tuned

— Retro Computers Ltd (update 69)

This "update" is remarkably similar to the update from October 25, 2016:

Lee Fogarty posts on facebook indicating that testers found almost 50 problems with the Vega+, and only one was mentioned in the update. (Please note that this post has now been deleted from the RCL facebook group):

Nothing mentioned in this update are amongst the almost 50 items listed by testers. Please refrain from implying they were. The *only* button issue raised by testers is the dead zone on the d-pad.

— Lee Fogarty

George Cropper releases a video called THE VEGA+ - MORE SKULDUGGERY!

It has been revealed that the game creation competition (featured on the World of Spectrum forums) to promote the Vega+ did not receive a single entry.

Thursday 9th November, 2017

RCL have today issued an update stating that changes made due to feedback from testers led to the unit being redesigned. I have attached the full testing report along with ALL replies. Missing from this report is the initial email conversations regarding the d-pad dead zone stopping games such as jet-pac being as playable as they should be. We were also informed that it was too late to change the d-pad (a long time prior to the unit being redone).

— Lee Fogarty

A follow-up reply from Lee Fogarty: "You should see the email conversation following my chat with the author of ULA+. I passed on the reason for the issue, and the solution to fix it to PP and the reply back was that I was wrong. And it was an extremely simple fix.". (Note: PP = Private Planet, Janko Mrsic-Flogel's company)

Friday 10th November, 2017

Disgruntled customers of ZX Spectrum Vega+ firm Retro Computers Ltd have complained to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA), alleging ringfenced company funds are being diverted into its legal battles.

The gist of the grievances is an allegation that some of the £513,000 given to RCL by 5,000 members of the public to put the ZX Spectrum Vega+ handheld console into production was instead spent on lawyers’ fees during a battles over control of the company that produced the devices.

London solicitors’ firm Michelmore LLP, the firm which has acted for RCL over the last year, ignored an invitation to comment on the SRA complaints against it.

RCL MD David Levy told The Register: “We are not interested in commenting to The Register due to its repeatedly biased reporting.”

15 minutes after The Register article is published, RCL releases an update on Indiegogo showing a 90 second video of random pieces of equipment being processed in a machine. The end of the video switches to several photos of what appears to be casings of the Vega+, possibly from the small prototype production run manufactured a year ago. The video currently has 6 likes and 36 dislikes, and comments require moderation to prevent bad publicity.

TWEAKING THE DESIGN

Over the last few months, we have addressed a number of design issues.

Following a number of unauthorised and misleading statements over the last few months, the board of RCL have operated on a "need to know" basis with regards to the production and manufacture of the Vega+. All commercial activity, current status of the project, supplier details and future plans of Retro Computers Limited have been shared with only a minute number of people. This has not included our web designer Lee Fogarty.

At no stage has Mr Fogarty been involved in the production of the Vega+.

We see that Mr Fogarty has confirmed he has acted without the companies authority and on occasion against our express instructions. We apologise for any confusion this has caused to backers.

Because of the ongoing civil and criminal investigations, some months ago on advice from the Police our legal team and other experts we asked that all contractors refrain from commenting or engaging with any online abusive activity.

Following a number of threats and abuse a few weeks ago and the targeting of yet another person and an incident of doxxing, we advised Lee that he must come offline to protect himself and those close to him. This included his name being removed from the RCL website where he had erroneously been attributed as the author of a number of official statements from the board of RCL.

Mr Fogarty is no longer a contractor RCL.

— Retro Computers Ltd

RCL are deleting comments from the thread as quickly as possible, hence the mismatch between facebook reporting 17 comments made yet only 2 are visible. This post seems to be a complete turnaround from earlier in the year when Suzanne Martin had nothing but praise regarding Lee Fogarty:

He has only ever been kind and supportive in my experience. And I have seen some pretty awful abuse being aimed at him and people close to him. Not acceptable at all. We have one life Graham and we should always be mindful of the impact our words and actions have on another human being. I'm still here - stop for a second and think about that. RCL's statements are factual, never abusive and always legally approved. We don't release edited, false or private info. I have to go I need to take the dog for a run. Night

Saturday 11th November, 2017

She forgot to mention that after she posted this, I received my badge of honour - I am now part of the "if you say anything, we will sue you" club! So, with that in mind, I am preparing a statement. But in the meantime, the "misleading statements" made by myself and others all have one central source - Suzanne Martin.

I didn't want to write this today, or ever. I wanted to leave the mess that is RCL behind. However due to the statement posted by RCL, it appears this is what they want.

For the past 18 months, at least 5 times a day, 7 days a week, I have had phone calls from Suzanne Martin. On several occasions in the early hours of the morning, often hysterical. This would destroy most relationships, but fortunately my gf has the patience of a saint. Not that she hasn't expressed discontent at times!

Around 50% of these calls have been emotional support. Why I ended up being her crutch when she has her own partner is beyond me. During this time, Suzanne has behaved more and more irrationally, making bizzare decisions and statements, leaving me to question the client/customer relationship on several occasions. It is by far the worst way to conduct business and oversteps professional boundaries. With that in mind, Suzannes actions and statements recently show no integrity, conscience or morals.

This is in addition to the huge amount of abuse we have suffered online and offline due to being associated with RCL. More on that later.

During the past 18 months, I have encouraged and supported the company and product. I have pushed RCL to keep going, and tried to encourage the backers to get updates - my point has always been that the company only exists because 4500 people paid for it.

A few weeks ago, Suzanne called me at 9am and demanded that I close all social media accounts. Suzanne starts by asking - then demanding - then threatening. It's a pattern she follows until it ends up with suing (and I have had that threat more than once). I of course refused, so she contacted my gf and demanded she did the same. At the same time she told my gf I am one of the trolls. This claim was repeated the next day in another call to my gf. This is totally unnacceptable and a huge act of betrayal.

My gf has always tried to stay out of this, despite Suzannes attempts to lure her in.

During one of these calls, Suzanne insisted to my gf that the product would be out in 3 weeks - that was on 10th October, and if I did or said anything there would be consequences.

That afternoon, my family were targetted. What I would like to know is how Suzanne knew that was going to happen in the morning? She has verified this in her statement.

This isn't the first time Suzanne has done something to wind people up online and sat back for me to get the abuse. I had asked her to stop doing this and winding people up deliberately.

The RCL statement implies it was the decision of RCL that I end any relationship with them - not true. That decision was mine, and I discussed it with several people beforehand. Part of my decision was Suzannes quixotic behaviour, the other part of the decision was my discontent at Suzannes machiavellian approach to backers.

I have helped many businesses over the years, and aided many Sinclair related projects, both publicly and privately, and nothing has ever turned out like this.

I would like to request that Suzanne Martin refrains from contacting anyone associated with me, and ends her unsubstantiated claims.

I am absolutely disgusted at your recent behaviour and in particular at the diatribe you launched against Suzanne today on Facebook. I suspect that the pressure of the past 18 months has finally got to you, and that as a result you have allowed yourself to be bought off by the group of trolls who, for the past 18 months, have orchestrated the vile campaign of harassment and intimidation against RCL, its directors, and yourself. To have done so would be a treachery so ghastly that I can't think of words adequate to describe such a turnabout. Not content with withdrawing yourself from the fray, which I fully understand and agree with, you are now aiding and abetting the enemy. Have you forgotten that, not so long ago, those with whom you are now siding put an image of a tombstone online with "RIP Lee Fogarty" on it. How on earth can you now take their pieces of silver? Don't you have any self-respect?

You say: "For the past 18 months, at least 5 times a day, 7 days a week I have had phone calls from Suzanne Martin. On several occasions in the early hours of the morning, often hysterical." This is highly reminiscent of the way that Paul Andrews behaves, accusing others of what he himself is doing. I regularly speak to Suzanne many times a day, and for many months now the first call of the morning usually included her account of the calls that you had been making to her, often long calls, often late at night or in the early hours of the morning. Your respective phone bills will show who called who, how often, for how long, and when, but there is no doubt in my mind that it was you who instigated most of the calls between you, and it was you who needed and received the emotional support.

Suzanne's advice to you and to Tanya to close all your social media accounts was good advice. It is the advice we have been getting from the police and from our lawyers, in the face of what Andrews & Co have been dishing up. It was advice intended to make life less difficult for both of you, by removing from your sight what the trolls have been saying about you. The advice was very well intentioned. All of Suzanne's advice to you that I have been hearing about these past months has been intended to benefit you and Tanya.

I can understand how difficult life has been for you and Tanya, and I can understand how such intense and vile pressure for so many months could affect your state of mind so much that you cannot now tell right from wrong. You need help Lee, and hopefully if you can get appropriate help you will be able to restore your mind to some sort of normality.

In the meantime you should cease immediately from attacking Suzanne and from siding and acting with the enemy.

— David Levy

David Levy's son Alastair Levy has deleted his twitter account after being asked about his father David Levy by various tweeters. Alastair Levy received £1562 from the "ring-fenced funds" for taking photos at the launch party. Despite RCL claiming the photos were taken at the launch party, camera metadata shows almost all the photos were taken a week after the event.

A backer asks "Any chance that we might actually see the console this side of Xmas? I bought it last year as an Xmas prezzie to myself which never happened!" Suzanne Martin answers with weasel words "Yes, definitely". A follow up message asks Suzanne to clarify whether her statement means the console will definitely be out or if there's definitely a chance it will be out. Suzanne ignores further questions.

Whilst no one except for RCL and their chosen manufacturers know the absolute truth (and even then I'm not sure RCL would know the truth if it jumped up and bit them in the nether regions) the latest video doesn't appear to show what RCL are implying it does. The video seems to show a single shot steel mould being machined? The shape itself looks more rounded than the square I would have expected and the mould for a VEGA+ and it's inserts would have to be multi cavity, which this isn't? At the end of the day this looks like a promo video for a die house, the kind of thing that's often seen on 'How It's Made' on the Discovery channel on Sky! We've seen RCL's attempts at 'the Hollywood touch' before and this just doesn't ring true to me! Like all RCL updates, it says nothing and has the undeniable air of nonsense!!

Paul Dunn (contractor for the Every Child Can Code website) posts that RCL ignored him and he is still owed money:

Many of us (myself included) were told one thing by RCL and had no contact with either Chris or Paul Andrews. The last thing I heard from them was "RCL will be in touch" and that was that. Still and all, I suspect I'll not be getting the rest of the cash they owe me... Ah well.

Due to a failure within the WoS Admin team, it has been decided that all forum moderators are standing down to allow for new people to step in. I'd like to thank the team for their efforts over the last few years, and they will continue to contribute to WoS and the new site as before.

Thursday 16th November, 2017

In what appears to be an incredible coincidence, the @WorldOfSpectrum twitter account went down the exact same time as the @LeeFogarty twitter account, around the time Lee claimed that Suzanne Martin asked, then demanded, then threatened him to delete all his social media accounts:

Friday 17th November, 2017

Rival project TheC64 receives a PEGI rating of 7. This is notable due to the fact that the Vega+ was started a long time before TheC64, the Vega+ is nowhere near ready for release, and that Lee Fogarty stated the following in a private message to a backer in March 2017:

The thing is, on the original vega, every game had to be recorded for 15 mins and checked by pegi individually to give the unit a rating and a report per game was sent back. Andrews was in charge of that bit

but.... he's pissed pegi off so many times over the years, they weren't too helpful - he struggles with anything involving thinking and freaked out over the forms as it had taken weelks - so Suzanne stepped in and sorted it that day

So, this time... he's taken all the documents and is convinced that without them all the games need doing again - but pegi like RCL now he's gone, so that's not the case. RCL have to record the titles that are different - which is done. My guess is it takes a day

Only a couple of titles were rejected - mostly due to the name rather than the content - Jon Cauldwell's homebrew was rejected

— Lee Fogarty

Monday 20th November, 2017

A member of the public discussion facebook group posts regarding lawyers Michelmores being on the Solicitors Regulation Authority panel. Due to the conflict of interest of Michelmores themselves being named, they will not be able to partake in the investigation into Teacher Stern or themselves. According to the poster, this may delay the SRA ruling a little, as it was due to be decided within a week and the first known complaints were lodged at the end of October 2017.

Wednesday 22nd November, 2017

Long time RCL supporter Derek Chandler posts on the "democracy" group asking if anybody has information about the final delivery date.

An hour later, admins on the group delete negative posts from the thread:

Dave Wayne posts on facebook claiming that he knows where the plastic moulds for the Vega+ are being made:

Sorry but I wont reveal to anyone where the moulds are being made because a 2nd party will once again try to disrupt the production of the Vega+. And folk can ring every plastic moulds making factory in the country and they wont find out either. Have a good weekend folks.

— Dave Wayne

Friday 24th November, 2017

After spending thousands of pounds of backers money on David Levy's pet project Every Child Can Code, the website is reduced to a holding page:

Suzanne Martin has sent complaints to Twitter that resulted in Daniel Newby and Nick Cooper's twitter accounts both being locked for 12 hours.

Thursday 30th November, 2017

A member of the public discussion facebook group notices that RCL's confirmation statement is overdue on Companies House. If a company doesn't have any changes to tell Companies House about, it only takes 30 seconds to file online and costs £13. It is a criminal offence by the directors to not file the statement.

The Retro Computers Limited website is back online - sort of. The website has not been configured correctly, so results in an animated 404 error page when you hit the front page. A number of links do appear to be working, and RCL appear to be once again taking money for sales of the Vega and Vega+.

Friday 1st December, 2017

The Solicitors Regulation Authority replies to various backers regarding the lawfirms Teacher Stern LLP and Michelmores LLP. The reply basically says that after reviewing the case, they have decided further action must be taken and they also said they have their top men working on it.

Monday 4th December, 2017

Lee Fogarty posts in the World of Spectrum facebook group to say he has reported RCL to Action Fraud:

I have today been forced to report RCL and their web-hosts (Fastnet) to action fraud due to their repeated attempts to bypass my softwares features.

I have asked both RCL and Fastnet to refrain from (badly) hacking my software and as yet received no response.

The software was disabled due to non-payment. Over the last month, and particularly the last two days, they have repeatedly attempted to bypass the restrictions.

The software is owned entirely by myself and used with permission. This permission is withdrawn on non-payment. Action Fraud have agreed that the site is being hacked with the intention to defraud.

At the same time, I also discussed the online shop and particularly the sales made. I have been advised to also report this to action fraud as a separate case. If you have ordered any items from the RCL web shop and not received thern, please contact me privately so that your details can be added to the report prior to sending. This is clearly time-sensitive so responding ASAP is essential. If you don't wish for me to have your details, I will be providing a crime reference number to link cases.

Tuesday 5th December, 2017

After Lee Fogarty's "hacking" of his previous employer's website, the RCL site now consists of a single background image. The image can not be seen properly on the majority of screens because the author clearly does not understand HTML. The entire code for the page is as follows:

Wednesday 6th December, 2017

Anon y Mouse tweets a scanned document that appears to show Suzanne Martin purchasing social media engagements from Devumi - a social media marketing company. The scan shows payments of $97 per month for the 8 months from September 2016 (proposed original Vega+ release month) until April 2017. A total of $776 appears to have been spent in this eight month period and was allocated to the sinclairzxvega twitter account to create fake audience engagements. The plan indicates payment is for 1000 daily engagements.

#ZXVega+ Leak! Here's RCL paying for Twitter likes and other such social media black magic... ***with backers' money, of course***. Because it's more important to be "liked" than it is to spend money on manufacturing... pic.twitter.com/LlLmV8bdt8

Thursday 7th December, 2017

Anon y Mouse releases a document from late 2016 showing that RCL ordered 37 but took delivery of only 5 prototype Vega+ units. RCL had previously promised that all backers would have their units by Xmas 2016.

Remember when RCL said the #ZXVega+ would be under the Xmas tree LAST year? Shame they only managed 5 instead of 5000. As far as we know, the other 37 units are on back order still... Thanks moley moley mole, keep the documents coming. pic.twitter.com/afukadyxH2

Friday 8th December, 2017

Quick update - I have spoken to cyber crime today as they received a report from Suzanne Martin regarding the website. They are satisfied I have done nothing wrong and was within the boundary of the contract. They also took the opportunity to request clarification of my report, so they have received in full the numerous sales confirmation receipts from the online store (thanks to those that supplied them), along with a statement, and other evidence for other claims.

In addition, they requested evidence of a further claim I made today regarding certain troll accounts on twitter. Briefly, it is known I was accused in court of creating several abusive twitter accounts. Clearly I wouldn't be happy with that, so I dug out evidence that Suzanne Martin created those accounts herself, and have sent the evidence on. I was also asked to provide evidence against some claims RCL have made about others that were untrue - that has also been supplied.

— Lee Fogarty

Most of the comments in the public discussion facebook group are of the opinion that Lee has made up the majority of the story:

Cyber crime was a TV term to describe a department, the official one for the UK is the NCCU.

Lee would have surely been asked to provide his ICO registration to prove the handling of critical user data was securely stored since Lee appears to be holding financial data well beyond their original date of purchase.

Because of the nature of the crime taken they will have advised Lee that this would have been looked into by EMSOU (East Midlands Organised Crime Unit), especially given the evidence Lee had provided to them of people's financial and personal details, which would be forwarded to SEROCU (South East counterpart).

If Lee had really received a call from the 'cyber cops' due to RCL complaining, due to the paperwork involved they are not going to care about online bullying or creating more aliases as this won't impact the freezing of assets which is the NCCU's primary goal to stop crime.

Another poster states: I know people who've reported actual cyber crimes - genuinely serious and dangerous cases of stalking - and waited months for any movement. The idea that "Cyber Crime" would be this quick off the mark for what is essentially a minor spat between two tiny businesses is laughable.

Another twitter account has been locked due to "posting or sharing privately produced/distributed intimate media of someone without their express consent". Suzanne Martin is not the chief censor for the internet, so the offending material has been added to the media takedowns page.

Saturday 9th December, 2017

A member of the World of Spectrum facebook group posts asking Lee why he went along with Suzanne Martin's dodgy shenanigans instead of distancing himself from RCL when he knew what was happening. His lack of ethics were also questioned. Lee posts:

You think I said nothing to RCL, or the guy in CID investigating? Why do you think I quit? The final straw was the 3D printed case that was supposed to convince me it was 2 weeks away from delivery, and the software debacle. I wasn't going to risk being sued by going public when it should have been dealt with privately.

— Lee Fogarty

Preston Thomas (author of the Vega+ News Mic Drop in March 2017) has officially quit the ZX Spectrum scene after having being doxxed (having his address released):

#zxvega Well I hope you are happy now. I am gone from the ZX Spectrum scene after being doxed. For those that were talking to me decent I can only take my hat off and thank you. As for the rest I just hope you get what you are trying to find. Good luck on your future endeavours.

A member of the public discussion facebook group notices that the prices Lee Fogarty is asking for his server hardware requirements has been marked up approximately 250% compared to the prices shown on the Fasthosts dedicated servers page.

Tuesday 12th December, 2017

The Oliver Twins have tweeted in support of donating money to Lee Fogarty's World of Spectrum site. A large number of replies have been posted, almost all against the idea, and many include warnings to read Lee Fogarty's history before even considering donating money to him.

World of Spectrum is improving it's service of preserving & making freely available everything about the ZX Spectrum.If you were a fan of the Spectrum & would like to help preserve this little bit of history, please show your appreciation by donating:https://t.co/9a7oqr513Npic.twitter.com/iTvv4KVfOp

Wednesday 13th December, 2017

Fogarty alleged on Facebook that police had become involved as a result of RCL MD Suzanne Martin calling them in. It appears that when Fogarty departed the company he disabled its website, allegedly over unpaid hosting fees or similar, which prompted Martin to ring the plod. Fogarty then alleged on Facebook that Martin was behind certain pseudonymous Twitter and Indiegogo accounts which had been "trolling" RCL's backers.

Suzanne Martin attributed the following response to Dr David Levy: "Firstly Lee Fogarty was never a spokesperson for Retro Computers Limited and he has made a number of misleading damaging and false statements about which he was warned on several occasions. This is is (sic) just one of the reasons we ceased to have him work for us. Furthermore, shortly before this decision was made Mr Fogarty admitted to both doxxing, trolling and that a number of accounts were set up on his company, Creative Spectrums server. Given our zero tolerance policy on on (sic) such matters we dispensed with him.”

Suzanne Martin added: “Mr Fogarty appears to claim to have taken the blame for trolling when in fact this matter was thrown out by the court and therefore no blame was apportioned. Finally, unlike some other crowdfunded projects such as the The C64 and it's [sic] associated products we still plan to deliver the specified Vega+ to our backers in the very near future.”

RCL has still insisted it is sitting on more than half a million pounds of other people’s money, despite the numerous and drawn-out High Court cases which would have run up legal fees of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of pounds. RCL took that money from the public on the clear understanding it would manufacture and deliver a product it had already designed.

TheC64 (mentioned by Suzanne Martin) is a retro-themed gaming product that is already in production and being delivered in early 2018 by former RCL director Paul Andrews. TheC64 receives regular updates, unlike the Vega+.

Lee Fogarty has setup a Patreon campaign to accept funding to create the World of Spectrum replacement site. So far the campaign appears to be as successful as Lee Fogarty's other ventures, with 0 backers donating any money.

Friday 22nd December, 2017

A member of the public discussion facebook group notices that the original ZX Vega is available for sale on the Argos website, and by staying on the page for a little while, the site reports how many have been ordered in the past 48 hours. Assuming the figures on the site are real and not artificially inflated, Argos have sold £990 worth of units in the past two days. A suggestion is posted that a few complaints should be made to inform Argos they are selling a product with absolutely no support and that RCL do not even have a website (as one of the Argos staff suggested a customer to visit in the Q&A section).

Saturday 23rd December, 2017

A new article appears on the Real Crooks blog called Suzanne Louise Martin – In Sickness and in Wealth (archived backup available). The webpage contains a large number of allegations, including that Suzanne Martin claims she is suicidal in official bailiff and court documents when she loses in court, that Suzanne is claiming social security benefits for living alone while living with her boyfriend (who may be using an alias himself) in Ramsgate, and that Suzanne wears disguises whilst walking her dog. The post also includes a phone number to ring anonymously for her victims: National Benefit Fraud Hotline - 0800 854 440 (call between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday).

Sunday 31st December, 2017

Jonathan Cauldwell tweets that he only managed to complete two ZX Spectrum titles in 2017. On August 12, Jonathan Cauldwell promised that he would write all 1000 games for the Vega+ if necessary, after earlier promising (on May 7, 2017) to quit the Spectrum scene forever if the Vega+ console never comes out.

Somehow I managed to find the time to write two games in 2017, Jubbles and Egghead 6. 2018 marks ten years since I started work on Arcade Game Designer and it's still taking up most of my development time